Fall has officially kicked off, school has started and for many, it is time to put the nose to the grindstone at work. The next few months are the perfect time to reset your wallet and focus on the long-term financial goals that you want ahead of the holiday season, when restraint and moderation tend to disappear.

After highlighting habits that can make you a millionaire, today we are concentrating on ways to make extra money whether that be having a side job or staying flexible in the labor market.

“Don’t feel like it has to be a secret. Make sure that there is a not a conflict of interest and that the side job something that you can do,” says LaTisha Styles, personal finance blogger who believes it is essential to maintain total effort at your regular gig. “If your employer feels like you are wasting their time or money, you won’t have a full-time job.”

Styles took this tact while growing her own business, Young Finances, to the full-time job it is today. How did she know when to transition her side-job into her real job? In February 2014, Styles decided to work full throttle on her blog, finding spare time on the weekends, evenings and mornings when she was not at her regular position.

“That month turned out to be the best month in terms of income. Once I realized that I could make enough money with the blog, I put plans in place to make it full-time,” explains Styles who transitioned to full-time blogger in June 2014. Her website generates money through advertisement and affiliate partnerships.

While blogging has its advantages in terms of being able to fit the work around a regular 9 – 5 schedule, this advice is prudent for all of those interested in pursuing an extracurricular career path. Other professions that can fit around a typical schedule include Uber or Lyft driving, selling crafts on Etsy or finding odd jobs through sites like Task Rabbit. If you work in a field like marketing, advertising or writing, think about using a site like Elance where you create a freelance profile and can then search for appropriate jobs. The site monitors your work and is responsible for making sure the gig pays you, so it alleviates the trust issues with finding work on Craigslist.

Another way to prove yourself in the workforce? Opt into renting a home instead of buying one. Being a location agnostic can help with your current employer if a transfer comes up, and it also can help to land a new job in a more dynamic labor market.

“Buying a house limits your flexibility. If you buy a house in Pennsylvania and all of a sudden there is a big job boom in Texas you are stuck. It is ok to rent for a time period,” says Abby McCloskey, an economist who was previously the program director of economic policy at the American Enterprise Institute. “Buying a home was the American dream and in many ways, it still is. But for a new grad where the job market is uncertain and we are still in a bad economic environment, you want to have the flexibility to move around to where the jobs are.”

“There are very few rewards for starting school and not finishing it. College is linked to higher incomes, more financial benefits throughout a person’s lifetime,” says McCloskey, whose research on the topic is summarized in this paper. “Some of the people who have the hardest financial difficulties are the people who incur student debts going into college but then they never finish and they never get those jobs that pay off that debt.”

If you are lucky enough to be a college graduate with a full-time gig that boasts benefits, it is time to start contributing to a retirement plan.

“If someone is fortunate enough to be in a job, in addition to save often I would say take advantage of the these tax advantaged accounts like a 401(k). If an employer matches your contribution, that is free money on the table,” says McCloskey. “I think millennials are saving more, after realizing that the government might not be there as a safety net in terms of social security when they hit retirement. It is certainly an impetuous for me personally and I know with my friends to save more for retirement.”

Based in Lebanon, I cover travel and personal finance topics for millennials. I'm committed to a life of adventure and have lived in four countries before turning 30. My work appears regularly in Playboy Magazine, Outside Magazine and AFAR Magazine, among others. Before bec...